The Story behind the famous “Saigon Execution” Photo

South Vietnamese Gen. Nguyen Ngoc Loan, chief of the national police, fires his pistol into the head of suspected Viet Cong officer Nguyen Van Lem, also known as Bay Lop, on a Saigon street, early in the Tet Offensive on Feb. 1, 1968. (AP Photo/Eddie Adams)

South Vietnamese Gen. Nguyen Ngoc Loan, chief of the national police, fires his pistol into the head of suspected Viet Cong officer Nguyen Van Lem, also known as Bay Lop, on a Saigon street, early in the Tet Offensive on Feb. 1, 1968. (AP Photo/Eddie Adams)

Perhaps one of the most iconic images to come out of the Vietnam War this photo depicts a uniformed South Vietnamese officer shooting a prisoner in the head. When you look into it, however, there is much more to this photograph than first meets the eye. There is an undeniable brutality to this photo, but even Eddie Adams – who won a Pulitzer Prize for capturing this shot – later admitted that it didn’t tell the whole story and he stated that he wished he hadn’t taken it at all.

Looking at this image out of context, it appears as though an officer is gunning down an innocent prisoner, perhaps even a civilian. You are apparently witnessing a savage war crime. That is the reason this image was adopted by anti-war protesters as an indictment against the Vietnam War. Without understanding the background, there is no reason to think that is not the case. It seems like yet another image showing someone acting horrifically and immorally during war time. But, when you learn the story behind the man who is being executed in this photo, the image and the reasoning behind the execution becomes a little bit clearer.

This man’s name was Nguyen Van Lem, but he was also known as Captain Bay Lop. Lem was no civilian; he was a member of the Viet Cong. Not just any member, either, he was an assassin and the leader of a Viet Cong death squad who had been targeting and killing South Vietnamese National Police officers and their families.

Lem’s team was attempting to take down a number of South Vietnamese officials. They may have even been plotting to kill the shooter himself, Major General Nguyen Ngoc Loan. It is said that Lem had recently been responsible for the murder of one of Loan’s most senior officers, as well as the murder of the officer’s family.

According to accounts at the time, when South Vietnamese officers captured Lem, he was more or less caught in the act, at the site of a mass grave. This grave contained the bodies of no less than seven South Vietnamese police officers, as well as their families, around 34 bound and shot bodies in total. Eddie Adams, the photojournalist who took the shot, backs up this story. Lem’s widow also confirmed that her husband was a member of the National Liberation Front (Viet Cong), and that he disappeared before the beginning of the Tet Offensive.

After being captured with the bodies during the Tet Offensive, Nguyen Van Lem was taken to Major General Ngoc Loan. In a street in Saigon, Loan executed Lem with his .38 caliber Smith & Wesson.

The photographer, Eddie Adams, had this to say of capturing the photo:

I just followed the three of them as they walked towards us, making an occasional picture. When they were close – maybe five feet away – the soldiers stopped and backed away. I saw a man walk into my camera viewfinder from the left. He took a pistol out of his holster and raised it. I had no idea he would shoot. It was common to hold a pistol to the head of prisoners during questioning. So I prepared to make that picture – the threat, the interrogation. But it didn’t happen. The man just pulled a pistol out of his holster, raised it to the VC’s head and shot him in the temple. I made a picture at the same time…

The General then walked up to Adams and said, “They killed many of my people, and yours, too,” then walked away.

Was this the right thing to do? As with so many things connected to war, the answer to that question is murky at best. Military lawyers have not yet decided with complete certainty whether or not Loan’s actions violated the Geneva Conventions relating to the treatment of prisoners of war, so there is no official decision on the matter. From Loan’s perspective, the man before him was a cold blooded killer who not only killed some of his friends and colleagues, but their families and other innocent people. This was a dangerous man, who in the name of patriotism nonetheless believed his political stance justified his actions, as presumably did General Loan himself concerning the execution. The question is- how would you have reacted, on both sides of the coin?

This may have been the end of Lem’s life, but it was not the end of the story. The image of Lem’s execution, and public reaction to it, played a small role in bringing the Vietnam War to an end. Although that is no bad thing, it also demonized General Nguyen Ngoc Loan, which was something Eddie Adams was extremely sorry for. He was quoted as saying,

The General killed the Viet Cong; I killed the general with my camera. Still photographs are the most powerful weapon in the world. People believe them; but photographs do lie, even without manipulation. They are only half-truths. What the photograph didn’t say was, “What would you do if you were the General at that time and place on that hot day, and you caught the so-called bad guy after he blew away one, two or three American soldiers?”

Adams felt that, by taking the photo, he had ruined Loan’s life. He felt Loan was a good man, in a bad situation, and he deeply regretted the negative impact that the photo had on him. In fact, Major General Loan later moved to the United States. When he arrived, the Immigration and Nationalization Services wanted to deport him partially because of the photo taken by Adams. They approached Adams to testify against Loan, but Adams instead testified in his favor and Loan was allowed to stay. When Loan died of cancer in 1998, Adams stated, “The guy was a hero. America should be crying. I just hate to see him go this way, without people knowing anything about him.”

Additional Facts:

A few months after the execution picture was taken, Loan was seriously wounded by machine gun fire that led to the amputation of his leg. Following the war, he was reviled where ever he went. After an Australian hospital refused to treat him, he was transferred to the United States, where he was met with a massive (though unsuccessful) campaign to deport him. In 1975, the former General, Nguyen Loan, opened a pizza parlor, which he ran until 1991, when his identity was discovered and he was forced to retire after receiving many threats.

Loan and his wife at the pizza restaurant they opened in the D.C. suburb of Burke, Virginia at Rolling Valley Mall called “Les Trois Continents.”

Nguyen Van Lem’s secret Viet Cong name, Captain Bay Lop, came from his wife, whose first name was Lop. Nguyen Thi Lop knew her husband, Van Lem, was a Viet Cong officer. But until she picked up a newspaper in February 1968, she didn’t know he had been arrested—or that he was dead, until she saw Eddie Adams’ photo of her 36-year-old husband being executed three days before by Saigon’s police chief, Gen. Nguyen Ngoc Loan.

Newly pregnant and fearful of the South Vietnamese authorities, Lop took her two daughters, then 13 and 3, from their house near Saigon’s airport and moved in with relatives nearby. She struggled, working a multitude of odd jobs, until the war ended. After the war she was given a monthly pension, a “gratitude house” and a scholarship for her son who was born eight months after his father’s death.

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106 thoughts on “The Story behind the famous “Saigon Execution” Photo”

I think I would have done the same thing. This guy was as MURDERER and had no regard for human life. It was hard enough for our soldiers to fight this war and even harder for them because they didn’t always know who the enemy was…one day a friend, the next day a killer.

It is too bad it took so long for the complete story to come out plus that before the facts came out that the photo was used political purposes. There were plenty of reasons to question the conduct of the war, on both sides, but falsifying the facts behind a photo does not help anyone and in fact like Eddie Adams said, it becomes a powerful weapon.

Nothing new myself and many others have known about it fir 42 years. There is also a video before, during and after he was shot. Amazing how long it takes some people to get their head out of the sand.

I should have said that it was this write up was posted on his Facebook Wall by a friend of mine. While I do not know the author I do know a bit about the story and based on that I must compliment the author again. This is a throughly researched, well written rendition of the story as I understand it, except for the legal part. The legal status of General Loan’s act was clear at the time.

Like spies and pirates, a “franc tireurs”, that is, a person caught under arms in a civil insurrection but without any identification as a combatant was treated differently from a soldier under the Geneva Convention at the time. They are not lawful combatants and therefore cannot claim protection of law.

Under both international law, i. e., the Geneva Convention, and the law of the Republic of South Vietnam, a franc tireurs was a terrorist and subject to summary execution on the battlefield. What General Loan did, however brutal, was legal which was why he was never charged with a crime, much less prosecuted.

While some will say today that International Law no longer allows such summary executions, this is more a statement of the speaker’s aspirations for International Law rather than an accurate assessment of the state of the law even today. The law has not substantially changed. From a historical perspective it is worth noting that the British wanted to summarily execute the NAZI high command at the end of WW II but were overruled by their allies, even the Soviet Union. It is not as unusual as one might think.

As is noted in the article, after the war General Loan owned a pizza parlor in the suburbs of Washington, D. C. He was a courageous, honest man, badly wounded by the war and badly treated by people who should have known better.

There is no indication whatsoever that General Loan was corrupt. He certainly took no money out of Vietnam. If you have information otherwise mywartoo, then you should bring it forward. If you cannot, then you should be ashamed because this man bled for his cause while you merely lied for yours.

There is no indication whatsoever that General Loan was corrupt. He certainly took no money out of Vietnam. If you have information otherwise mywartoo, then you should bring it forward. If you cannot, then you should be ashamed because this man bled for his cause while you merely lied for yours.

How many Vietnamese people (South and North, soldiers, men , women and children) did we-Americans killed during this infamous war of ours? 3.8 millions by Reuters, and 4 more are dying and waiting to die from Agent Orange. Nothing can justify the atrocity shown through this picture.

in a war zone , war time …If I was in the general’s situation , I would have done exactly what he did , those commies were (are still now) murderers . The best way to help the south vietnamese people at that time was to kill the fucking VC bastard. General Loan was the best .

atrocity ? the man murdered a whole family of 4 including the wife of an army man and 2 children . It’s just so sad that you were manipulated by the media.
oh yea how do i know ? cause im a vietnamese who’s living under the communist regime and shit’s fubar over here

John, it’s likely you had listened or read too much Vietcong’s propaganda. If you had lived in Vietnam, you would know how many innocent kids, and defenseless elders were executed ‘en-mass’ by those coward VC terrorists simply because they were accused of being traitors by living under the territory controlled by South Vietnam Army or/and by American troop.

And where have you been, Viet Tran? What have you learned in school? What have you read? But that doesn’t matter though. Nothing can enlighten you. You’d probably won’t be able to see the difference between black and white anyway. You are a Vietnamese by the name, but I wonder what kinda of Vietnamese person you are. Backstabber? Throughout the Vietnamese history there were many people like you, unfortunately for them and luckily for the people in VN, Viet Nam is one unified country now as it is supposed to be.

You have just made subjective assumption, man! You sound very confused in your comment. Do you yourself know the difference between back and white, John?

Vietnam is currently a “heaven-on-earth” but only for the “in-power” party members , their family, and their relatives. They are corrupted and become extremely rich. They are enjoying a luxury life, while the majority of people have to live from hand to mouth .

Human right abuse in Vietnam is as serious as in North Korea. Wake up and look at the bloody reality around you.

I was in Saigon during the Tet offensive. I witnessed by my own eyes the brutal killings of civilians. The those Communist terrorists like Nguyen Van Lem did shoot innocent people those who were family members of soldiers of South Vietnam Army. They accused them as traitors to the country.

In City Hue , Viet Cong killed ten thousands of people and buried is shallow mass graves.

Cachmangmauvang..I think you’re right about that.. & Mr. Viet Tran is right ..this JohnH person is ignorant, blind & deaf not to recognize human right abuse in Vietnam is as serious as in N Korea.. JohnH goes on the personal offensive against people who has the courage to express their views to help others understanding what has happened to our country. Everybody entitled to their own opinions .. you are a lunatic when you go on the attack of others who go against your ideology. Cachmangmauvang & Mr. Viet Tran.. I salute you for standing up for your belief. 02/01/18 marks the 50th anniversary of the execution of Nguyen Van Lem.. I mourn for his victims & not his death.

I was never bothered by the photo. I didn’t know the circumstances of what happened and this article only serves to reinforce my feelings that he got what he deserved and the general did nothing wrong.

How did this picture become famous? Wasn’t it because it reflected and supported by the anti-war sentiment of Americans at that time? And how is it an iconic image? Isn’t it because it represents the very ugly substance of that war that Americans with right conscience were sick of? The photographer did enjoy that anti-war sentiment that has made his photo a Viet Nam war iconic image for a long, long while. It was a trendy thing. Now, it is a trendy thing to say it’s ok to kill commies and he’s feeling sorry for taking that picture and ruining the life of the general — a “good man” and “a hero” to the photographer, with sweet words like “The General killed the Viet Cong; I killed the general with my camera.”! Flip-floppers deserve no respect. Is this a “half-truth”? What is “half-truth” anyway?

Had to? No he didn’t. A general without brains. That’s what he was. Dead men don’t talk. In the end, this kinda of picture has helped stir up the anti-American+theSVN sentiment and and the war in VN in general among the American and the US lost the war.

I think the act is murder or some degree of murder. Regardless of circumstances, the act of shooting a prisoner is wrong. Street justice may save lives, but once you commit it, your no better than the thugs and killers.

I guess the General didn’t want to waste any bullets. Me, I would have shot that sucker in the lower gut and when he hit the asphalt I would have stood on his neck and ground his face in the road real good. Then I would have told him, “guess where the next bullet is going?” Then shot him in the base of his skull. But then again, I saw to many good American men killed by slime like him. Co. C 3/47th, Mobile Riverine Force.

Me, I wouldn’t have gut shot him- first, anyway. Naw. Kneecap, then when he was down, the other. Then the balls- after having kicked them to mush first. THEN the gut shot. Then I’d have pissed in his face, and if he was still conscious and I had diesel handy, I’d have burnt the POS. Worked in Central Asia! 11B1P 10th Mtn

To the photographer and sadly, to many Americans like the photographer, the VC deserved to be shot at the way he was shot at, and they found the picture totally OK to look at. If the pic didn’t suggest any atrocity of that war, how did it become famous? How is it an icon representing that shameful war that our nation once couldn’t bear to even mention it until today?
To the VC and most people in Viet Nam, except for some people like the general who worked for the South VN government as an American puppet, the Americans were invaders. The VC killed to protect his mother land. He’s a hero to his people.

People who talk about “invaders” need to understand that a great many of the VC were actually NVA that had taken off their uniforms after arriving in the south. They were traveling south in regimental sized groups by at least 1960. The only reason the Australians, the Americans and South Koreans were there was because the Northern Communists, backed and supplied by all the Asian and European Communist countries, were invading the South to “liberate” them. We were treaty bound to support the South. Saying they did not ask us to be there is simply commie propaganda. I would also point out that Stalinist style “liberation” (Uncle Ho was trained in Russia after all) is not something people will willingly experience. Thus the boat people after the fell after the US pulled out and even refused to send ammo to the south…. The North of course had all the Soviet Bloc equipment it needed….. So don’t tell me that I was an invader in VN. We were simply there to try to protect a tiny country from the full weight of world wide communism. An ideology that murdered (really murdered not killed on the battlefield) something around 200 million of their own innocent civilians over the course of the 20th C. If you think communism is so wonderful look at the Bolshevik Revolution, look at Stalin’s way of thinning the population in the Ukraine, his role in the invasion of Poland and what the Reds did the the Polish Army officer corps, then look at Hungary after the war, then look at the Gulags, then look at Mao and his 75+- million dead in time of peace. The South Vietnamese boat people which was the result of the South being “liberated”. Pol Pot in Cambodia. Then look at North Korea. Now tell me we were wrong to confront this evil. People that take the communist side are truly sick…..Or simply deluded by communist teachers and professors.

According to some comments posted here, It’s ok for Americans to go to VN and kill. Why is it wrong for people in VN to kill to protect their families and their homeland? Why do Americans complaint about how bad they were treated as prisoners of war by the VC? American soldiers weren’t five year old girls going on a field trip with Mother Theresa in VN. They B52 bombed the hell out of the country, they bulldozered villages, they burned homes with Napalm bombs, and chemical weapons – Agent Orange, they raped and killed women and children, and yet they expected the Viet-Namese people bowed their heads to accept the fate. How did the USA become the USA? By bowing to the Brits and accept the fate imposed by Her Majesty of England? The people in VN didn’t invite American soldiers to come to their country to massacre their people. Also there wasn’t one single bullet from the people in VN ever touch the soil of the USA.

Wow! how pitiful. You weren’t invited to come to VN. Let alone coming there to kill babies and women and burn their land. You came with guns and bombs and chemicals and you did the atrocities such as My Lai as one of the many, and now you cry victim. That’s heroic. Your mom should feel proud. I don’t need to say to the mothers that you murdered. They know more about you than me. The irony is that they all forgive you and people like you, yet to just give you a sense of entitlement and superiority instead of remorse and humility. Keep crying and justifying yourself to your conscience, Cadd, if you have one. It’s all irrelevant now. You and I will pass through this world and the truth remains itself the only relevance. The world needs no self-claimed heroes like you. I am sure.

North Viet Nam and their puppets the Viet Cong were seeking to install a murderous and brutal Communist regime, as the actions of the Viet Cong demonstrated to anyone paying attention at the time. I would, and will, support anyone standing against that sort of tyranny. Those of you who see both sides as morally equivalent can all fsck off.

Right, Mark. Your neighbor is a commie and he /she is probably installing a tyranny (according to Richard Barnhill here on the comment board, this needs to be proven), so you are entitled to just burn his house and kill his family, feeling righteously proud as a human being. I assume those commies aren’t supposed to react, retaliate, and/or even complain. And when you are caught burning their houses and kill their wives and kids, you would expect them to treat you like a five year old girl lost in Wonderland. What a sense of entitlement and superiority

To Ramakrisna Gunturu and all the other naysayers who blame America, There are always two sides to any War so why is there no blame attached to Communist China, North Vietnam or even the Soviet Union all of whom were engaged in this war.

The Vietnamese in the South many of whom fled the North did not want Communist Marxist rule which is noppressive and when all said and done evil.

Do some research and find out about the 20,000 foolish Americans who volunteered to fight in the Russian Revolution who after their usefullness was exploited were murdered by the Marxists never to return to America.

Then read about how the Agrarian revolution in Communist North Vietnam resulted in the murder of tens of thousands of “Landowners” so the pesants could all be given a single small block of land to farm, Problem was most were not big landowners but had maybe an acre or two and just like in Zimbabwe they were murdered or driven of their land under a Marxist regime variation of an Islamic fatwa.

No Marxism is the most dangerous political threat to mankind even more so than Islam because they work by stealth with traitors in your midst and control that most insidious of organisations the United Nations.

Communism or more correctly termed Marxism will always be something to be alert to and opposed at every opportunity for many are the deeds of evil done in it’s name and the hundreds of millions put to death by followers of it’s idealogy.

The VC death squads sent out to kill the South Vietnamese Police and their Families are amongst the most despicable perpetrators of evil and while there is corruption world wide that is undeniable those who wish to enslave and kill by the Millions outweigh those who are corrupt in the stakes of evildoers.

In that time and that place the General was honorable in avenging for the murders of the innocent family members killed by that terrorist, For if he did not avenge them who would have some soft headed lefty judge, I think not.

Why did Poland, USSR, Hungary, Red China, and every other Communist Country in the world with the financial means fund the North? Supply troops (Red China was calling for volunteers in the 1960s to fight in VN), advisors and aircraft mechanics? Supply them with tanks and planes and ammo, everything they needed to invade the South. Why is this OK and the US and other allies of the south wrong? EVERY death as a result of the Vietnam War was the result of COMMUNIST AGGRESSION. ALL OF THEM. The South would have been peaceful, if the Communists were not invading and killing people. If they had not invaded the South the US would have never been there. Thus no war. The South did not invade the North. The North was the invader, I KNOW I served in an infantryman in VN and I never saw a single
“VC” everyone we fought was an NVA regular with a uniform and often newer equipment than i had. Brand new European communist made AK 47s for example. Anyone who believes the Communists were blameless is just a communist dupe who has not bothered to educate himself about the war and the evils of Communism. By far the most murderous ideology of the 20th C. Hundreds of millions killed by their own communist Gov’ts.

@Kathleen Brady: Why the US and the Americans waged a war against the tiny Vietnam? That little peaceful country was on the other side of globe for US.

In the final analysis, US had to return back with tons of insult and shame of not being able to win the war; which also stands an an example for the cruelty of the US Government(s) in doing whatever they feel like doing.

My sympathies the US soldiers that died on the soil of other country. But the responsibility is of the US Government.

James S. Robbins (2010). This Time We Win: Revisiting the Tet Offensive. Encounter Books. pp. 94–104.

Thiếu tướng Nguyễn Ngọc Loan (Vietnamese) Archived 6 April 2005 at the Wayback Machine.
“Nguyen Ngoc Loan, 67, Dies; Executed Viet Cong Prisoner”. New York Times. 16 July 1998. Retrieved 5 July 2009. “But when Brig. Gen. Nguyen Ngoc Loan raised his pistol on 1 February 1968, extended his arm and fired a bullet through the head of the prisoner, who stood with his hands tied behind his back, the general did so in full view of an NBC cameraman and an Associated Press photographer.”

Friedman, Andrew (2013). “Nguyen Ngoc Loan’s Pizza Parlor”. Covert Capital: Landscapes of Denial and the Making of U.S. Empire in the Suburbs of Northern Virginia. University of California Press. pp. 196–219. ISBN 9780520956681. Retrieved 22 August 2014.

Adams, in the documentary An Unlikely Weapon (2009), directed by Susan Morgan Cooper

I grew up in Springfield,VA, and my mother worked for a time at a flower shop in Rolling Valley Mall (“Petal Peddlers”). I was in high school at the time (class of ’90). It was a tiny mall, just a handful of stores, Gen. Loan’s pizza place was just a couple of shops over. I ate there a few times, the pizza was okay, but the steak sandwiches were stupendous! The restaurant seemed to never have customers, it was always (in my mind, mysteriously) empty. There was much discussion/ gossip over how they could stay open with such little business.

I knew the owner was the man in the infamous photo, which I learned from my mother. I don’t know how common the knowledge was, but certainly his identity was known to the other people that worked at the mall. This was a few years before 1991, and I was off at college during the time he left, so I do not know what transpired. I do not even recall hearing about it.

I remember one interaction with him, at the mall. I had a bad knee (and like Gen. Loan, I later became an amputee) and used a cane to walk, and that day I had one of the more fancy canes from my collection. Loan was standing in front of his (empty) restaurant, noticed me, and was apparently taken with my cane. He pointed to it (his English was, as far as I know, limited at best) and in a jovial/jocular (and possibly a bit inebriated) manner, pantomimed me pulling a hidden sword out from within it! He grinned and made some gestures to my cane, and I gathered he was impressed by how fancy it was and was trying to let me know (I assume he meant it looked like the walking sticks that wealthy people used to conceal swords for protection during the 18th century or whenever it was). Granted, a teenager using an old fashioned and ornate cane was a bit anachronistic looking, if not plain odd, so I understood why he reacted.

Anyway, I enjoyed the article, it brought back many memories. At least my post is a bit lighter in tone than many of the others in the comment section!

One fact that easily visible in the film of General Loan’s street corner execution of Bay Lop from which the still photo emerged is that when the National Police officers who captured Lop brought him up to Loan, Loan said something to Lop. Lop casually responded, and Loan shot him. I think it would be of interest to know what the two said to each other, but I have always thought that in addition to murdering some of Loan’s men, Lop’s flip response to Loan’s comment or may have helped initiate his demise. No matter what was said, the killing of National Police officers was merely a part of the Viet Cong/North Vietnamese program of killing anyone (including village chiefs, city officials, Buddhist Monks, Catholic priests, school teachers, etc., etc., etc.) who posed even a slight potential threat to the accession to and maintenance of power by Communist North Viet Nam in South Viet Nam, Laos and Cambodia. Ho Chi Minh’s plan was to establish a Union of Indochinese Socialist Republics based on Moscow’s model, with Hanoi as the ‘Moscow’ of Southeast Asia. Yes, GIs did burn some ‘houses’ in cases where they evacuated villagers to ‘strategic hamlets’ and did not want the VC/NVA to use those structures for shelter or for storing war materials. People like Ramakrishna Gunturu love to characterize the Viet Cong and their North Vietnamese buddies as just poor villagers who wanted to be left alone by the American Imperialists. I got to Viet Nam rather late in the war, but by the time I got there, just in time for the Nguyen Hue or Easter Offensive of 1972, the ‘villagers’ were attacking South Viet Nam with full-blown infantry regiments supported by armor units equipped with T-54, T-62, and PT-76 amphibious tanks and by artillery units equipped with 130-millimeter (mm) and 152-mm field guns. Had Lop not been killed by Loan, he would have continued his mission throughout the war. Nothing exemplifies the existence of their murder program better than the NVA behavior in the old Imperial City of Hue during the 1968 Tet Offensive, when after they had taken the city they went around arresting people from lists they had already made up, and then killed those people, burying some of them alive. Communism and Nazi Socialism remain the great Murder Machine evils of the 20th Century. The Viet Nam war was lost in part because the enemies of democracy used the freedoms of democracy to fight against democracy, freedoms guaranteed by those who put on the uniform and put it all on the line for the country they love so much. Those who supported the VC/NVA during the Viet Nam war got just what they deserved — absolutely nothing.

My perspective is changed. But take it then further; WHY was the murderer’s family honorably given a home when her husband allegedly killed dozens of innocent family members in their homes? Why was the man who likely saved countless lives by killing one forced from his home and when adopting a new one, was again made to feel alien? Why was the response to an act perceived to be horrendously violent met with threats of violence? Even without knowing the context, whatever assisted in ending the war was an act of God. His awards are eternal.

I was working in a commercial television station as a production assistant when the fall of Saigon happens. I was ask by the News Manager to assist American journalist to transmit via satellite their war footages from Saigon. We used the news studio for the live introduction of the reporters then run the supporting video with live annotation from the reporter. I cannot remember all of them but there is one American/Japanese I remember his name, Ken Kashiwahara. I can still remember those videos of American helicopter taking off on the roof deck of US embassy in Saigon, the US aircraft carrier discarding the helicopters to the sea and many more.
I am not against the war in Vietnam, what I don’t like is violence. War means death. I thank you for this very enlightening information. Thank you very much.

I’ve always believed that if someone…soldier or civilian is “caught in the act” of committing the serious crime of murder and there are witnesses, then immediate execution is called for. No arrest; no jail; no hearing; no prosecution; no defense; just immediate and swift death.

Very interesting article as always John. When I was in RVN from Nov. ’65 – Dec. ’66, there were many Public Executions in Cholon of the VC by ARVN Soldiers! Nothing much was ever said about those. Keep up the good work and Welcome Home Brother!

Thanks for pulling this story together.
It’s tragic for all concerned.
War creates its own dynamic.
It can bring the best out in the worst and the worst out in the best.
The stress begotten by fear of imminent death cannot be understood except by those who go through it, I would think.
War of course grants the psychopath unfettered indulgence in his perversion.
But few of those who go to war have this perversion but yet their new reality is perverted all around.
To be judgemental and vengeful is the easy part but to be so requires one to be blind to the effect of terror on the human being.

Interesting story and probably true, but you quote Wikipedia as the source of the truth. Wikipedia is not a proven source in any way whatsoever. It is the most manipulate media on the web, and nothing in it can be considered accurate or reliable.

I am a Vietnamese refugee and I saw this picture when I was growing up in America. My father was working for the American Embassy in Vietnam & I came from a family with strong South Vietnam military ties. My great uncle was a five star general . I can attest to the fact that the VC has ruthlessly killed many innocent civilians. They have killed & buried many people who was still very much alive. My family was extremely fortunate to be able to come to the USA. I am sure that we would have been killed if we had stayed. I would like to thank all the American soldiers who helped us fight the VC. My family believe in paying it forward. My brother has served in the US Coast Guard for 30 years. As for the picture, I believe that VC should have died a few thousand more times for the crimes that he has committed to those innocent families.

Sure, a lot of innocent South-Vietnamese people were killed by VC. But how many innocent South and North Vietnamese people were killed during the VN war by American soldiers and their bombs, and their chemical weapon such as Agent Orange? How many women and children were killed by SVN soldiers and their generals, your uncle included? Based on your comment and your personality shown through the comment, I guess you belong to some kind of brutal, heartless, violence- loving family. Back then, rumor said that every time a SVN general went on a field trip, the local officials have to provide young girls, goodies etc to him. Hope this is just VC propaganda. But your personality revealed through your comment somehow made me believe that there’s some sense of truth in the rumor. Anyway, do a research on how many innocent people have been killed during that stupid war. Just remember N or S Vietnamese people are still Vietnamese. Also, the world doesn’t revolve around you and your family only.

Mr.JOHNH.. Everyone is entitled to their opinion & I have been raised by my parents to respect others. I only pointed out how cruel and brutal the VCs were to the innocent civilians. You tell people to do their research but do you really know the whole stories?? the general’s subordinate’s families were hiding in the bomb shelter from the VCs and were all killed by that VC & his men when they found the shelter. Did you know that they killed those people by cutting their throats ( even small children ?? ) and when the general’s men came back to the shelter, the blood was ankle deep inside the shelter.. And another instance of how brutal & sadistic the VCs .. After the Tet offensive in 1968 .. The VCs took over Hue for 1 month & during that time they rounded up soldiers & educators & their families & government employees & executed them by binding their hands & told them to dig the ground ( their graves ) .. Thousands died.. Yes.. There are casualties of war & there are bad & good people. I’ve only pointed out the brutality of the VCs & explained myself as to where I was coming from.. So.. Until you have lived in a war… Please do not judge people.

Speak for yourself. You are judging people too. Don’t want to get judged?Don’t even get on here, but then that’s out of the context. Sure it’s cruel the war. Your story is very one-sided. SVN and American soldiers weren’t Mother Theresas either. Get on the internet and find out yourself. One of the reasons they didn’t win that war is because they were very bad. How bad? Find out yourself and the featuring picture of this story is just one example out of thousands of those atrocities committed by SVN and Am. soldiers. If you don’t like to read, then go watch some movies / documentaries or so. Then again, with the kind of mentality of yours, nothing can prove you otherwise. Please don’t go here and tell people about your family filled of hateful past anymore. By the way, did the general of your family fought till the last drop of blood, or did he run away before everyone else and enjoy a good life in America.? Has he and your family gone back to VN to show off how well off he and your family are to local people in VN? Well, I am wasting my time. Keep the questions for yourself. Talk to one-sided mind kind of people is hopeless. Bye.

I think that you are the one that being hateful & judgemental .. My uncle was served under president Ngo Dinh Diem so he was already dead by the time the war ended. As for me and my family.. We’ve done no such things as what you threw out at me.. I was the only one who have gone back & only to support the charity foundation that I’m involved in. I thank God for America , where I am able to work & help others..As for your statement of how bad the SVN and American soldiers … That proved that I’m not the one who’s one -sided mind. I say thank you for their service to every SVN soldier & American soldier that I come across everyday. As for the questions.. I posed only 1 and that was asking if you know the whole stories.

Thanks for keeping the true story about this photograph alive and available to the public. Scanning the comments, it’s clear that some don’t want to accept the truth. The detail behind the simple brutal graphic image of a battlefield death…and the streets of Saigon were the battlefield…during Tet in 1968…is where the truth can be found. An armchair warrior can’t comprehend or acknowledge or change the truth and more than those that deny the Holocaust of World War II.

Very difficult. The bastard deserved it. It helped end VietNam thus American troops wouldn’t be killed. I dont think the General was wrong and though I’m a left Democrat, hey, karma is karma. I’m sorry the General had to close his place. I hope they had a semblance of peace in the US.

I was in Vietnam at the time this story appeared in the Army Times Magazine. The version in 1968 was that this took place in Hue, which is far north of Saigon. This fellow was an NVA Artillery Officer dressed as a civilian who had been directing fire onto American and ARVN positions. He was captured and executed for the mass murder the NVA were guilty of having committed of ARVN, and SVN civilians. You can look that up in the army Times of that date. If he had been in uniform, he would have been treated differently. but he chose to dress out of uniform and mingle among civilians he subsequently murdered.

That’s my version. Army Times Magazine will state that. Geneva Convention has no place in an Asian war. Asians do not adhere to it to any degree, so if they do not observe it, they cannot expect Americans to observe it either.

You have no idea how brutal and hellacious war is until you have been in it and I do not mean cooks or drivers. I refer to Grunts in enemy held territory. We were surrounded by over 200 NVA. Over 200 NVA against 14 Americans. I don’t know the exact number but there were hundreds of them. Night time is good because they were just as afraid as we were so although they had a numerical advantage, they did not know it. The NVA knew we were in front of them but not exactly where and they did not know our ammo status.

I was in a unit that was inserted on a Sunday morning at ~1020. By ~1045, we were fully engaged in day and night fighting. We were low in everything and almost out of ammo. Slicks flew over to air drop small arms ammo, cases of claymores and frags, food, medical supplies, and water but due to intense enemy AA small arms fire, they flew overhead so fast that when they kicked out the supplies, they landed over the NVA and we only got the water.

A repo came in who had not been in the field an hour before he was killed by a salvo of four grenades thrown by NVA hiding in elephant grass near us. My friend Mike Moran was severely wounded but survived.

We were attacked on Thursday evening at ~1800. Myself and a 13 man squad of infantry with 12 grunts and a squad leader were separated from the main unit who were themselves depleted. We were down on ammo and night was closing in. The squad leader came to me and asked, “What are we going to do?”
I answered, what are we going to do? You’re the squad leader.
“But I don’t know what to do.”
I answered, ‘Well, if it were me, I would do an ammo count to see what you’ve got.’
He said, “Good idea, I’ll be right back,” he told me. He returned and said, “We’ve got two magazines each plus yours.” Two magazines was about 36 rounds per man. I had over 500 rounds because I was a LRRP AFO who was sent out as an Artillery Observer with the Infantry companies when they were short an AFO.

Field Artillery Observer was my primary duty but there was a shortage of Artillery Officers and I was Artillery Officer Qualified although not an officer. I had graduated First in Class from the First Field Force Vietnam Advanced Artillery Officer’s Course.

I answered, No, not mine. You guys need to practice fire discipline. Stop shooting at shadows and bushes. Do not fire anything unless you have a target you can see and you’re sure you can hit it with one round. They were quick to listen. ‘

I told them, ‘Thegooks are going to be firing probing fires as soon as it gets dark. Do not return fire because they will target your muzzle flashes and where you are standing is where you will die. Remember, you’re their squad leader, not me. They are depending on you. Go tell them what I said in your own words. The squad leader nodded yes and left. The night was just beginning and it is a long story but just believe what I said.

I was in-country during that event. I was out in the bush about 2 clicks from the Cambodia border with a unit of the 25ID, Tropic Lightning. A few days later, I was wounded, February 18, 1968, and sent to Japan for 45 days to recoup. They gave me a Purple Heart. It was the hottest year of the war, 1968… lots of enemy contact. We killed 1.2M of the enemy and lost 58K of our guys. Our losses were all hero’s, each and ever one. The enemy’s goal was to inflict as many US losses as possible so public opinion back home would oppose the war and force our President to pullout. It worked.

It’s time for article like this to be gone. Move on. A lot of comments show how ignorant people are about the war. Let them live and die carrying their ignorance and hatred. That’s the only good thing about keeping this article.

I read all your comments and obviously you failed to understand a few things.

1. Lem was a murderer or a terrorist if you will and he had murdered many innocent people, including children. Obviously, he didn’t value life, therefore, he didn’t deserved to live. Who knows how many innocent people he had killed prior to being caught.

2. The general, under the chaos of war, had no choice but to put Lem down. The general has not resources to keep him captive, letting him go would mean more innocent people die; sending him off to the after life would mean no more innocent people die by Lem or Bay Lop. It’s a matter of math at that point. If I were the general, I wouldn’t have put him down in plain site, I would have taken him to the woodshed and quietly show him the way to hell. By the way, I was a Vietnamese all my life, I never come across a name LEM before, where the hell did the Viet Cong find that terrorist? He must have been one of the ChiCOM incorporated.

In any case, after 40 something years of Communists rule, South Vietnam, once a model country for Southeast Asia, has become what our President lovingly called, ” A Sh*t Hole”, as in all communist countries. And yes, I did go back to Vietnam, not to show off, but to witness the sad state that country after many years under communism. And, yes, my father fought to the last second and he was captured and forced into “Re-educational Camp” as the Viet Cong called it. It was more like a hell to put it mildly.

Johnnh, you called others in this blog ignorant, but I think it is you, who are what you call others. The North Vietnamese Communists said they want to free South Vietnamese, but we didn’t want to be freed. We were doing just fine, we had freedom, we had prosperity, we were happy until we were forced to be united with the less free, less happy and less prosperous North Vietnam and less educated! You get the point? Communism sounds good until you grow up in that sh*t. I apologize for using some colorful language here but I am trying hard to drive home the point for Mr. JOHNNH’s benefit.

Finally, I just want to take this opportunity to THANK all our American soldiers who have given so much to try to preserve the free South Vietnam. You did not let us down. You did put the stop to the spread of communism to other southeast countries. I also want to offer a prayer for all our fallen soldiers, Americans as well as the South Vietnamese soldiers. Their sacrifices will not go in vain because there will also be people who will continue to fight for freedom throughout the world, myself included, no matter how small contribution, to honor their sacrifices.

Ignorant? yes, my thoughts exactly and you are the living proof. Murderer? like My Lai and such? Boys and girls and babies, cows and pigs and chicken and rice fileds are communists, too? Well, I am wasting my time here. Bye.

JOHNNH, I had to agreed, most of us VietnAmericans and the free world are ignorant, according to you, and we don’t know anything about My Lai.

But as ignorant as we are, we know that a few bad American soldiers committed a massacre; but we also know that the good American soldiers put a stop to it when they found out it. You see, Americans will acknowledge when they are wrong and seek to correct it. Americans are not perfect people but that doesn’t mean they don’t seek to be better.

However, we need to give credit where credit is due. Even with all her defects, America has done more good for the world than all communist countries combine at any given time.

So tell us then, when was there a time the communists anywhere in the world seek to correct their wrong doings? The common knowledge is, communists never admit their wrong doings; if anything, they hide it and double down on it. It is proven that communism and mass killing goes hand in hand, even a blind man can see it. You, JOHNNH, seem to be ok with it, you seem to defend it, you seem to find excuses for it. We don’t understand you. We are not as educated as you. So educate us then about communist crimes, in the past and the present…we like to know more. You see, you are not wasting your time because we are eager to learn more about communists mass killing or lives destroyed by communism around the world – at least 100 millions from what I have learned. Damn, that’s a lot of people. But yea, tell us more about communism.

So how about you start teaching us about the Viet Cong strapping bombs to live, innocent Vietnamese babies and set those babies up as booby traps…

You see, Viet Cong are cowards, they don’t have the balls to fight heads on against American and South Vietnamese soldiers in the open battle fields. They hid behind women and children and innocent people and used them as human shields. They don’t play by the rules and they don’t honor their promises or agreements they enter into. They got no morals.

It’s difficult to fight an enemy, who constantly and purposely hid behind innocent people, villagers, women and children, with the intention to confuse their enemies of who is who. Thus, My Lai.

It is difficult indeed.

Johnnh, you said that the American and South Vietnamese soldiers lost the war because they were bad. Let’s be very clear about one thing. The South Vietnamese lost their country because they trusted the North Vietnamese communists to abide by the Paris Peace agreement of 1972. It was the communists who violated their own agreement to end the war and bring peace to Vietnam.

The American defeated the powerful Japanese Empire, which was way more powerful than the Viet Cong, what make you think they can’t defeat the Viet Cong if they want to?

The Americans didn’t want to hurt the innocent people in North of Vietnam; that was the reason why they stay their hand. On the contrary, the Viet Cong seek to use and get the innocent people kill to score a meaningless victory. There lies the difference between good people vs bad people. And with my limited knowledge, I think the Viet Cong or communists in general, are the bad people.

JOHNH, I have no idea of your age, where you are from, or if you have ever served in any military (much less the U. S.) military. My guess is you have not, much less served under any sort of combat.
I was in the U. S. Army Signal Corp stationed in Can Tho, RVN (Republic Of Vietnam). My MOS was 36H-20 (Dial Central Office Repair) which means I was trained to repair a telephone exchange when a problem arises. This is only part of the job because maintenance had to be performed and certain monthly routines performed and logged with the results. This was not my job, though, because my MOS carried a J-6 modifier meaning I was trained as a Tandem Switch Repairman, we maintained the equipment and trunk lines in and out of the Delta at Can Tho Tandem. I arrived in country on Apr. 18, 1970 and came home on Jun. 24, 1971. We worked 12 hours a day 7 days a week and pulled guard duty at night once every two weeks. We received enemy fire maybe once a month, quite unlike many other places in country. One night (the one I can never forget) started the same as most any other night, did routine testing and monitored the trunk lines to one of the other sites. The Army had 2 sites in VN Can Tho, Gung Chua Mtn., and one in Bangkok Thailand. The A.F. had sites at Tan Son Nhut, Cam Rahn Bay and after 48 years I do not remember if I forgot any. Back to that night, it was early morning I believe when the first round came in. I don’t know when the 42nd and finally round hit.we started monitoring trunk lines to Tan Son Nhut because that was at Saigon. We finally found a circuit that was very interesting. There was a Colonel that called Saigon and he was livid. There were 2 Huey Cobras in the air that night and they spotted the tube and requested permission to fire. 2 GI’s died as a result of the incomming rounds. The Col. wanted to know why permission to destroy the tube was denied. The response was “the tube was set up in the school yard of a “PACIFIED” village. In order to destroy the tube, they would have to destroy the school and they couldn’t take the chanch of the American press getting that information.” None of the men I was stationed with were out to kill anyone. Our M-16′ were kept in a locked locker in our office. The only time we removed them was to clean them in prep for guard duty. In the morning the weapon was again cleaned and returned.
So, JOHNH, as I stated I don’t have any idea where you live, the only thing I can tell is you hate the United States and you know absolutely nothing about the Vietnam Conflict. That is what we were told for years since a state of war was not declared. If you care to check the facts you will see that President Eisenhower sent advisors to Vietnam after the French defeat at Dien Bin Phu. Pres. Kennedy sent in the Green Berets to assist. Both groups at that time were mainly advisory but would fire if their base were to be attacked. On the other hand, Johnson sent in a large increase in 1968. One other thing Johnson and his Sec. Of Defense McNamara is to impose unreasonable restrictions on the U. S. Forces he sent. These were called “Rules of Engagement” which stated depending where you were stationed, if you received fire you had to:
A) Request permission to return fire which went to Bn. maybe Bgde.
B) Request permission from Co., Bn., Bgde., Pentagon. So you ducked below the sandbags and waited, the trouble being you were over run or the bad guys went home.
See the problem is that allows the bad guys to keep coming back to kill more of your friends. And you mentioned the massacre at Me La I. I am in total agreement with you. It was terrible. The difference between you and me is you have no understanding of war. Myself, however, can understand how that could occur. When you are attacked almost every night and while your friends die you can do nothing, something is going to break. Also do not forget not every soldier on that patrol participated in the shootings.
I know you have learned all of the evils we committed, that is why we received the welcome we got upon our return. We were drunks, junkies, rapists, baby burners (my favorite). The best I was called was “no good motherf*****g baby burner.”
I know the smell of burning flesh, thank you VC. I know what it is like to watch body parts pulled from wreckage also thanks to the VC.
Please get an unbiased research on the atrocities committed by the communists in South Vietnam, which was to be an independent nation that was non communists. Most of the fighting done in the name of communism was by NVA in VC uniforms.
May you look at the complete war.
God bless you.
P. S. I don’t hate anyone now, not even Jane Fonda. I haven’t forgiven, I may never do that even though my God tells me I must, but I let go of the hate years ago.

Thank you, Christina Nguyen. I have more where that come from. I haven’t begun unload yet.

Glad to know freedom loving people like you out there.

Communism sucks!! For some reasons, every country who is friend of America seem to do well. Any country touched by communist turn into hell hole. Not sure why…maybe JOHNNH can enlighten us all why that is.

I disagree, because I look up everything I do not know on Wikipedia. It tells a story that matches up with my perception of reality, as well, whether it is a story about the Civil War, or about the Vietnam War, Wikipedia gathers verifiable information as best they can. [They do not allow posts like Alex Jones: “there’s a secret child sex ring at Comet Pizza, Washington, D.C.] Jones’ completely just made up out of whole cloth story caused a guy who lives in Salisbury, NC to do four years in prison, and Jones doesn’t take any responsibility–he doesn’t even send commissary money. I live off Old Salisbury Rd about 20 miles from the North Carolinian who, unfortunately, believed everything he heard on right wing bullshit radio, now he’s doing the time for his “investigation”. Do you have a similar story of the danger of information from Wikipedia?

This is a message to all. You have to do things that are not cool looking to make a point.
I hated to see our guys get shot I know it is war but justice is what it is. Our special teams were delt with also.

the photo after the lens of a camera is a photo. but the picture after the lens of our eyes has a lot more than just a picture. It all depends on the person behind the lens, then it is interpreted. Don’t blame on yourself Eddie. Nobody should be blamed here. All were forced to do what they thought was the most correct one at that moment. Thank you for sharing the stories. With the war, there is no winner. Both are losers.